Housemaster Miloran eyed down his students with a smile on face.

“It’s a challenge to make it to the final eight,” he began to say, “but it is also a challenge to remain humble in defeat. I thought my house exemplified this here today. So, a congratulations for all is in order.”

The Wizards from Myren house all gave a round of applause.

“Now,” Housemaster Miloran said, “I’d like to welcome Housemaster Geroth and Haven house to the duelling stages.”

The Myren Wizards began to disperse from the hall floor and they walked over towards the viewing platforms that Fareth had been sitting in. The Haven Wizards got out of their seats and made their way to the hall floor.

Geroth walked to the front of the floating rock and passed by Miloran.

“Better luck on winning the victory cup next year, Geroth.” Miloran said with a smirk as he walked by, “The candidates for Myren house this year are all outstanding.”

“I think my students may just surprise you this year.” Geroth replied. “Especially when they are holding the victory cup.”

Miloran gave a slight chuckle as he took his seat behind the table.

The Haven students arranged themselves into eight rows of eight in the middle of hall and they eagerly awaited their Housemaster to begin speaking.

“My students,” Geroth said, “Welcome, one and all, to the tournament. I’m sure many of you are anxious, and a good many more are excited. This is an excellent opportunity to gauge how far along your training has come.”

Geroth paused momentarily and eyed over each of his students before he spoke again. “Now, there is simply the matter of the draw. As per each year, you have been seeded according to your academic results from the theory trial yesterday.”

Geroth reached into his robes and withdrew his white headed dragon staff. He momentarily raised it into the air before bringing it down, gently tapping the ground beneath his feet.

At that moment, small white trails of light appeared from the top of each student's head, they flew over towards where Geroth was standing, arranging themselves into a glowing open bracket. Each student could see their own spot in the draw, and they knew exactly who their opponent was without the need to ask.

“We shall begin with the top left side of the draw.” Geroth said referring to the highest seeded eight duels.

“Yes, Housemaster!” The Wizards said.

“Good luck.” Geroth replied.

Fareth was amongst the Wizards not involved in the first eight duels, so he took his spot over at the side lines. He had managed to score relatively highly in the seeding order at number nine (out of a total of sixty four). Daloran on the other hand was seeded at number four, and he stood in the duelling circle in a confident stance as he awaited the arrival of his opponent.

The resulting duels went just as Fareth had expected. It was a one sided fight, as the top eight seeds fought against the bottom eight. Whilst the greater the intelligence of the Wizard did not necessarily mean that they were the superior fighter, it did indicate a greater dedication to one's skills. It was that discrepancy in dedication which was on display in this opening duelling round.

Fareth watched as the final of the first eight duels came to a conclusion. His stomach twisted and turned knowing that he was up next. Fareth took a deep breath in as the winners and loser of the duels bowed to each other, and left the duelling circles.

Fareth had been so concerned with his own upcoming performance that he hadn’t payed any attention to Daloran’s. As if on cue, Daloran nodded his head in the direction of Fareth, indicating that he had both won his duel and that he had faith in his friend. A wave of relief overcame Fareth, but it was short lived as the Housemaster cleared his throat.

“Next up,” Geroth began to say, “are seeds nine through sixteen, and seeds forty nine through fifty six.”

Fareth walked over towards the duelling circle closest to the Housemasters. The circles was wide and reflected the colour of the house battling in it. Since Haven house was now using the circles they were made up of white stones. In the middle of the circle was the painting of four dragons, each a different colour (dark blue, dark red, white and dark green) swirling around each other. At the far outer edges of the circle was golden incantations that’s purpose was to activate at the end of the duel and restore the duelling ground to a good condition.

Fareth watched as his opponent stood ready at the other end of the circle.

“Battle stance!” Geroth shouted out to his students.

The students all split their legs apart and reached into their robe in preparation to take out their staffs.

“On the count of three you shall begin.” Geroth said, “One…”

Fareth’s heart was racing, it felt as if his it would burst out of his chest at any minute.  He wondered if he had always been this nervous.

“Two…”

This was it for him. He was going to have to think of a way to outsmart his opponent because he knew that he would not be able to out muscle him with superior Staff magic.

“Three!” Geroth said signalling the start of the duel.

Fareth’s opponent quickly drew his staff out and he raised it into the air shouting. “Light, pierce!” The tip of his staff began to glow brightly and then a beam of light came shooting out of it, hurling towards Fareth.

Fareth was about to withdraw his staff and cast a defensive spell when the sudden image he saw of Geroth lying on the ground crept into his mind.

Fareth shook his head and attempted to regain his focus, but it was too late. The beam hit him directly in the chest and sent him toppling backwards. He spun in the air and landed on his back just inside of the duelling circle.

All of the student Wizards on the viewing platforms let out a gasp of disbelief.

“Did you see that?”

“Yeah! I can’t believe he actually hit Fareth!”

One of the whispering Wizards was Celina and she turned to her friends in disgust.

“That’s who everyone has been talking about?” She said in an irritated tone. “How pathetic do they think I am?”

Geroth looked down at Fareth with worry in his eyes. He knew his son was capable of  much more than that.

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Fareth stumbled to his feet and his opponent, realising that he had made the mistake by not finishing Fareth off while he was on the ground, readied himself to cast another offensive spell.

Fareth carefully studied his opponent and considered the position that he was in. Now that Fareth was close to the edge of the duelling circle, and his opponent was standing near the center, it would be too difficult to win by forcing him outside of the arena. It would also be too risky, as even the slightest spell would force Fareth outside of the duelling circle. He also knew that catching him off guard to cast a binding spell would be tricky.

Fareth’s opponent raised his staff and took aim at him. Fareth had to think quickly, if he was in his opponent’s position what type of spell would he cast? Would he disarm his opponent? No, no there should be an easier way than that. All his opponent needed to do to win would be to nudge him a bit farther to push him outside of the duelling circle - of course, that’s it!

Fareth smiled to himself. He had figured out what type of spell his opponent would be casting, and knew exactly how to counter it.

His opponent took a powerful step forward and shouted out, “Dragon wall!” The tip of his staff shone brightly until there was a sudden burst and a large dragons head came forth and flew towards Fareth.

Fareth had already taken the time to position his spell at the staff in his opponent's hands. “Slice!” Fareth shouted out and his staff emitted a powerful beam of light that looked like a sword. The sword crashed into the dragon’s head and split it open in two different directions away from Fareth. The sword did not stop there though, it kept going after the impact and hit his opponent’s staff sending it flying out of the duelling circle.

His opponent was briefly stunned and he reached into his robe to try and pull out a different weapon, but it was too late. Fareth had already taken the time in which he was stunned to cast a sealing spell that bound his hands in shackles preventing him from taking out his other weapon. Fareth had won the duel.

Geroth let out a sigh of relief and smiled, Celina sighed in disgust at Fareth’s victory, Daloran shook his fists in joy and Balon furrowed his eyebrows.

Fareth walked over to his bound opponent and he tapped his staff on his shackles, freeing him from the spell. Fareth bowed slightly and his opponent did the same.

“Nice move.” His opponent said.

“Thanks.” Fareth replied and he walked over towards Daloran on the sidelines where they would wait together for the next rounds to begin. Daloran welcomed him over and he pat Fareth on the back.

“You had me worried there for a second!” He said.

“I was worried myself.” Fareth replied.

“All for the drama, was it? It certainly was exciting!”

“Ah, no, that’s not what I had intended.”

Daloran gave a half smile, “You seemed distracted at the start of the duel. Try and keep your focus next time, I’m not sure if my heart could take much more of your showmanship.”

Fareth gave a forced chuckle as he watched the remaining duels - his mind was elsewhere and not on the tournament. His thoughts were focused on the vision he had seen, what was the reason for it? Was it simply a dream, or it could have been a prelude to something more sinister.

The second round of the tournament came and went by Fareth in a flash as he continued to not pay attention. In his second round he had managed to retain enough of his focus to beat his opponent. His winning move was faking a long windup spell that gave him an opportunity to quickly cast a repulsive spell and sent his opponent flying out of the circle. Daloran has also managed to win his second round duel and now all that was left was the third round and the traditional round to decide the Victory Cup.

In the third round of the tournament Fareth had a difficult time in beating his opponent. It was not as easy to catch him off guard like the other two, and as a result they had a great back and forth duel. They had been battling for such a long time that they were now the only duel left to be completed - that was until Fareth saw an opportunity to incapacitate him by binding his legs. His opponent was tied up on the ground and was unable to get up after ten seconds. Fareth had won the duel and made it to the final eight that would go on to the last trial tomorrow.

Fareth walked over towards Daloran on the sidelines and the two high fived each other.

“I’m glad we both made it!” Daloran said. “I’m hoping that this year you’ll be my lucky charm in the final trial!”

“I hope so too because you’re definitely going to need it.” Fareth said jokingly.

Daloran lightly punched Fareth in the upper arm and they watched as Geroth took the stand ready to address Haven house.

“My students,” he began to say, “well done to each of you! It is one thing to fight your enemies and it is another to fight against your friends. You have all shown great potential here today, but alas only eight of you will go on to the final round tomorrow.”

Geroth looked over at Fareth and gave him a nod in acknowledgement of his achievement. “Now then,” Geroth said, “All that is left is the traditional round to decide who will take the Victory Cup.”

The students cheered at the mention of the Victory Cup and Geroth had to quieten them down. “Quiet, quiet,” He said politely, “It is exciting but we must first decide who our gladiators will be and for that I pass on to Grandmaster Balon.”

Geroth walked away from the top of the floating rock and he took his seat behind the table with the other Housemasters. Balon walked up to the front and prepared to speak.

“Now, let us decide. Who is your chosen gladiator from Naxan, Housemaster Zaran?” Balon asked.

Zaran stood up out of his seat behind the table and he cleared his throat. “I nominate, Gaiafeld.” He said to the applause from all the Wizards in his house, taking his seat again.

“Yes, Housemaster!” Gaiafeld said standing up out of his seat. He made his way down to the hall floor and stood at the edge of a duelling circle.

“Who is your chosen gladiator from Myren, Housemaster Miloran?” Balon asked.

Miloran stood up out of his seat. “I nominate…” he paused for dramatic effect and his fellow Housemasters all rolled their eyes.

“That makes it fifty three years in a row he’s done that.” Geroth whispered to Thaine and he chuckled.

Miloran had decided that his dramatic pause had gone on for long enough and he finally said. “Ray.”

His house erupted into a cheerful applause and Ray made his way down to the duelling circle opposite Gaiafeld.

Miloran took his seat and Balon spoke up. “Who is your chosen candidate from Siren, Housemaster Thaine?”

Thaine stood up and cleared his throat. “Well, I’m sure this will come as no surprise to everyone, but I nominate Celina.”

Celina stood up and she shouted out proudly, “Yes, Housemaster!” and she made her way down to the final duelling circle waiting for her opponent to be known from Haven house.

“And finally, who is your chosen candidate from Haven, Housemaster Geroth?” Balon asked.

Geroth stood up and his eyes swept over the Wizards from his house before he spoke up. “I wish I could pick many of you but I can only pick the one who I believe has shown great determination and skill throughout all the duels today.”

The students eagerly awaited his decision. They did not know who Geroth was going to pick but they had a feeling his decision may be bias towards a certain Wizard.

“And so, I have picked the Wizard who I saw win all three of his rounds cleanly and elegantly. The Wizard that I nominate… is…  Daloran.”

Daloran jumped out of his seat in excitement. “Yes, yes, Housemaster!” He said barely able to contain himself.

Fareth slumped in chair in relief. He had not wanted to be the gladiator for Haven house. He had been lucky to defeat his opponents by outsmarting them, but the gladiators were the best of the best. Simply outsmarting them would not be enough, he would have to overwhelm them too.

The other students all spoke to each other in surprise, but Balon interrupted them all. “Silence! I must intervene.” He said.

Geroth looked over at Balon with a puzzled expression. “Grandmaster, is there a problem?”

“Truthfully, Daloran hasn’t impressed me as much as another Wizard from Haven has.” Balon looked over at Fareth with shining eyes. “Fareth, you are to be the gladiator for Haven.”

“What…?” Fareth said his heart sinking, but he quickly corrected himself. “Apologies, I mean, yes Grandmaster.”

Fareth walked down to the duelling circle and he stood opposite Celina.

Meanwhile Geroth spoke with Balon. “I do not understand. Daloran cleanly won all three of his rounds. My son is a great Wizard, but he struggled to win in each of his matches.”

“Geroth.” Balon said calmly, “Stop pretending. I think you understand perfectly that Fareth is most suited to be Haven’s gladiator.”

Geroth scrunched his face up, but he had no choice otherthan to obey his superior. “Yes, Grandmaster.” He said taking his seat.

Celina looked at Fareth standing in front of her. “I’ve been looking forward to this.” She said.

“I haven’t.” Fareth said miserably.

“Don’t think I that didn’t notice what you were doing in your duels.” She began to say. “I won’t forgive you if you go easy on me like you did to the other Wizards. I’m not going to hold back and neither should you.”

Fareth gulped. It was not her threat that scared him. It was the fact that other than Fareth’s most trusted friend Daloran, she was the only other person that had seen straight through his own guise.